'SNL' writer's missing sister case leads homicide detectives to Joshua Tree months after family's murder claim

Los Angeles police homicide detectives searched the Joshua Tree area of California on Friday for evidence connected to the disappearance of a "Saturday Night Live" writer's sister, months after her family claimed she had been killed.

An LAPD spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital that detectives with the Robbery-Homicide Division began searching the area Friday morning, though authorities did not disclose the exact location or what evidence they hoped to find.

Christina Lynn Downer, 38, disappeared from the Koreatown area of Los Angeles in late November 2025, prompting a missing person report in December.

Her brother, "Saturday Night Live" writer Jimmy Fowlie, announced in an Instagram post in late April that police had informed the family his sister was dead.

Christina Lynn Downer, the missing sister of "Saturday Night Live" writer Jimmy Fowlie, was last seen in Los Angeles' Koreatown neighborhood in November 2025. (LAPD)

"The LAPD has informed our family that Christina is no longer alive, and the case has officially transitioned from a missing person to a homicide investigation," Fowlie wrote. "Our prayers for her to be found safely have transformed into prayers for the truth to be revealed and for those responsible to be held accountable."

However, the LAPD publicly disputed Fowlie's account, maintaining that Downer had not been located, and her case remained a missing person investigation, FOX 11 Los Angeles reported.

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Joshua trees and towering rock formations in Joshua Tree National Park near Twentynine Palms, Calif., where authorities are investigating the discovery of a human skull. (Shutterstock)

"Although the circumstances of her disappearance are suspicious, Ms. Downer has not been located," the department said at the time, adding that detectives would continue investigating until the case was resolved.

Los Angeles police homicide detectives searched the Joshua Tree area of California Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, for evidence in the disappearance of Christina Lynn Downer, the sister of "Saturday Night Live" writer Jimmy Fowlie. (Josh Brasted/Getty Images)

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Fowlie also raised concerns about his sister's cellphone and social media accounts, alleging that someone used them to conceal her disappearance and make it appear she had voluntarily gone missing.

"The individual(s) in possession of her phone used it to hide the fact she was gone, to ask for money, and to create a false narrative that she was going 'off the grid,'" he wrote.

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The allegations have not been publicly confirmed by the LAPD.

During Friday's search, an LAPD media relations officer told Fox News Digital that investigators could not confirm whether detectives were looking for human remains, a suspect or other evidence or whether search dogs were involved.

It remains unclear what led investigators to Joshua Tree or whether the department has changed the official classification of Downer's case since its previous statement.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Fowlie for comment.